Restaurant to replace El Callejon moving through city process

A meeting to garner community feedback over Open House, a new Asian-themed restaurant that is filling in the space where the popular El Callejon Mexican food restaurant was in Encinitas, is slated for Jan. 17. Photo by Tony Cagala

El Callejon, the venerable Mexican food restaurant that anchored Moonlight Plaza on Coast Highway 101, closed a year ago after a dispute with the property owner. The Coast News is also a tenant in Moonlight Plaza.

In addition to Thai, Korean, Japanese and Chinese cuisine, the new restaurant, named Open House, is proposing to sell beer, wine and alcohol on site with a Type 47 liquor license, the same type of license as its predecessor.

Open House is proposing to open earlier and close later than El Callejon, with business hours of 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday.

The neighborhood meeting, which project applicants host to solicit community feedback before appearing before the Planning Commission, is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 17 in the Carnation Room at City Hall, 505 S. Vulcan Ave.